The hotel was stunning.

Ten times better than the one that was booked for us last year. Though the rooms were connected, it seemed to be one big penthouse. Our rooms overlooked the ocean, and through the windows I could see the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance.

There was a door that led from my room to Jude’s. His room was slightly bigger, but only because it came equipped with a wet bar.

The gala was in less than three hours and I needed to be getting ready. I took a quick shower and shaved. When I finished up and had thrown on a pair of shorts and a camisole, a knock sounded on the door that connected our rooms.

“Come in,” I called.

Jude stepped in and met my eyes. I started to smile, but a woman appeared behind him and my smile faded. I blinked rapidly, doing my best to avoid a frown.

“Jenna, I want you to meet Louise. She’s a close friend of mine—one of my best friends, actually—and one of the best makeup artists I know.” Jude came toward me, grabbing my hand and turning me fully to face a smiling Louise. When he touched me, I relaxed and smiled at her.

She was beautiful, in the Plain Jane kind of way. She had reddish brown hair and light brown eyes. She also had a tomboyish demeanor about her, sporting a plaid shirt and dusty-looking jeans.

“You have the dress, but you need to complete the look. Louise is going to do your makeup. Make you look like the queen you are,” Jude informed me.

“Where should I set up?” Louise asked.

Jude lifted his free arm to point at the stools in front the kitchenette counter. Louise bobbed her head and I turned to look at him as she started setting up her things.

“Will she tell your family about this? Us?” I whispered.

“No. I trust her,” Jude murmured.

But do you like her? I wanted to ask. Instead, I nodded as Jude escorted me her way. I sat down on the bench as Louise took out brushes and makeup. “Louise and I went to Harvard together. I got into a lot of trouble with this woman. I think the main reason we’ve stayed good friends is because of our love for pussy,” Jude chuckled, and I snapped my gaze up to his, just as Louise laughed and took out some concealer.

“It would be nice if you stopped using my sexuality to make up for your bachelor ways,” she continued laughing.

Oh. I got it now. She wasn’t interested in men. Relief struck me and I relaxed in my seat even more. Thank goodness. I was so sick of competing.

“I’m going to get ready in my room.” Jude stroked my arm. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will,” I said.

He walked off and cracked the door behind him, and when he was gone, Louise turned to face me, planting a hand on her hip and chomping her gum. “You’re a beautiful girl, but I’m going to make you so hot that Jude gets hard just looking at you.”

I burst out in laughter as she turned for the concealer. “I’m surprised he’s even doing this,” I admitted.

“What?” she asked without looking at me. “Pampering you?”

“Yeah.”

“I must admit, this is a first. He’s never asked me to do a woman’s makeup for him, other than his sisters’.”

“Janelle? Yeah. Are you close with her?”

Louise laughed out loud. “Oh, God, no. A girl like her is hard to be close with. Never met a woman so full of herself—well, other than her mother, of course,” she chuckled.

I smiled. I liked Louise already, and I could see why she was Jude’s best friend.

“Plus, since they found out I was gay,” she continued, applying the concealer to my face, “they don’t really approve of me being around Jude. His mom thinks I’m going to take him to a gay club and the experience will, eventually, turn him gay.”

“Oh, my gosh! No! She said that?” I guffawed.

“Straight to my face.” She popped her gum. “It was years ago. Jude confronted her about it but she didn’t apologize—not that I was really expecting one anyway. Still, she despises me. Jude invited me to the gala this year but I turned it down. Though, I probably should have gone and shown up in a tux. Now that would have set her ass on fire.”

I giggled. I was so glad I wasn’t the only one they treated like that. Louise seemed like a good person. I was a good person. We were good for Jude, I think. We humbled him in a way his family couldn’t, and I think his parents hated that about us. They hated the fact that we could give Jude something they couldn’t.

They wanted him to be just like them—stuck up, arrogant, and full of himself. Jude could be arrogant, but he showed respect when necessary. He could be full of himself, but he also knew when to lower his pride for the company.

The only thing he did get from them was his arrogance, but that was something I didn’t mind so much.

* * *

Louise finished my makeup in a little less than an hour and when I looked in the mirror, I could hardly recognize the woman staring back at me. I was sure my smile lit up the room. She’d done a fantastic job.

Louise helped me into my dress after she was finished, zipping it up for me in the back. It was strange—it felt like I’d known her for years. She uplifted and encouraged me and repeatedly told me how lucky Jude was to be walking through the doors of the gala with me at his side. Apparently, he was a fool for not asking me to marry him. That gave me a good laugh.

As I stood in front of the mirror on the wall and applied the finishing touches to complete my look for the event, there was a knock on the door and Jude walked in. I put my earrings in but my focus was on him as soon as he came into full view. Louise had left nearly twenty minutes ago so we were alone again, and that thought resonated loudly in my brain.

Alone.

Together.

No work.

In a hotel.

Just us.

And it wasn’t Sunday.

Jude had a small smile on his lips when he stepped into the room, but it had disappeared immediately when he took in my ensemble. He didn’t blink for several seconds and for a fleeting moment I wondered if this was too much—the makeup, the hair Louise styled in a semi-classy, semi-casual up-do—until he took a step forward and said, “Wow.”

“What?” I asked, facing him full on. “Is it too much?”

“No.” He met up to me, head shaking. “God, no, Jenna. You look…well, shit.” He studied my face and then lowered his gaze to my dress. “You look amazing.”

I dropped my head and couldn’t fight my blush. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Mr. Clement.”

And he really didn’t. Jude had gotten his hair cut the day before our flight. His scruff was still there, but it was fuller and lined up. He looked absolutely amazing in his tuxedo and bowtie.

He placed a strong finger beneath my chin, leaving me no choice but to put my eyes on his. “You’re beautiful, Jenna. I’ll have to make sure no one tries to put their hands on you while we’re there.”

I giggled. “I’ll be sure they don’t.”

His smile was soft. “Well, the driver is waiting. We’re already running a little late. I wanted you to have time to finish.” He paused, pressing his lips again. “Louise told me you looked great before she left. She was right.”

I held his hand, watching his lips. I wanted so badly to kiss him—to own those lips. I wanted him to show me I was beautiful with that mouth of his. I wanted him to claim me.

But, as if he noticed me looking at his sculpted mouth, he sighed and stepped back, but kept my hand in his. “Let’s get going. You have everything you need?”

I released his hand and picked up my clutch on the counter. “I do now.” I put on a smile for him. “Let’s get out of here.”